One year ago today, the Westside Express Service started shuttling rush hour commuters between Beaverton and Wilsonville.

Happy Birthday, WES.

Of course, the big $161.2 million baby was a bit colicky during its first year on the rails.

For starters, ridership sputtered. During its first week of operation in February 2009, ridership totaled about 1,700 trips a day. It has dropped steadily since. TriMet said last summer that it likely wouldn't meet its goal of 2,400 trips by year's end. In December, the number had dipped to 1,075.

Meanwhile, mechanical hiccups forced TriMet officials to sideline one or all of the commuter rail trains on 15 commuting days last year. Since the line doesn't run on weekends, that adds up to a total of three commuting weeks where at least one train was out of service and rail riders were forced to take shuttle buses.

"No bus shuttles since the end of October 2009," said spokeswoman Mary Fetsch.

Trimet has also launched a new ad campaign, declaring "WES Works!" (yes, that's an exclamation mark) and trumpeting the fact that trains have run on time "97 percent of the time." The agency has also put up a celebratory web page with testimonials from a grand total of three WES riders.

Officials have averaged out ridership numbers for the whole year to report 1,170 daily trips and 5,850 weekly trips. That looks a little better than the last weekly numbers.

Still, there are reasons to celebrate.

TriMet says 42 percent of WES trips were previously made by automobile. What's more, relief is apparently on the way for Tualatin residents who have hated the train horns from day one. TriMet says work on a quiet zone is underway.

So, WES, you're one. We want to see you grow and thrive. But right now, we're just hoping your second year is a better than your first.